


In Your Comforting Embrace

by afteriwake



Series: A Different Path [10]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Awesome Molly, Awesome Molly Hooper, Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper, F/M, Hugs, Inspired by Fanart, Introspection, Kind Molly, Molly Is a Good Girlfriend, POV Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock Feels, Sherlock Feels Guilty, Sherlock Holmes Has Feelings, Sherlock Holmes and Feelings, Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper Kissing, Sherlock Is Not Okay, Sherlock-centric, Talking, caring molly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-11
Updated: 2016-03-11
Packaged: 2018-05-26 02:29:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6220126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After blundering so badly with Moriarty Sherlock ponders what is to happen next in the game laid out for him and Molly comforts him in her own way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Your Comforting Embrace

**Author's Note:**

> And I'm finally updating this series again! This is an early posted fic written for Day Seven of Sherlolly Appreciation Week at Tumblr that was initially picked by **LadyEmmalineWrites1812** in my fic title acronym claim thing in November but I didn't update until now...sorry! I decided I want to do a couple more one-shots before I settle on another tattoo inspired casefic for this series, and _this_ particular fic was inspired by this lovely piece of fanart drawn by **artbylexie** on Tumblr that you can find [here](http://artbylexie.tumblr.com/post/132080073447/found-this-is-my-drafts-folder-i-love-these-two).

He didn’t know why he had gone to his lab at Barts instead of going to her flat or going home after he had taken a walk around London to clear his head. He’d had a meeting with Lestrade about a case that might or might not have been tied into Moriarty’s game, and while thankfully it hadn’t been he’d had thoughts weighing heavily on his mind when the meeting was over and instead of getting in a cab and going to Molly or going home he’d just begun to walk. And he’d ended up in the lab Stamford had given him for his use, sunk down on a stool and just stared ahead, lost in thought.

He had thought about going into his mind palace to sort through all the details of the game, go over the tattoos again, see if he could glean any further clues, but that was about as good as flogging a dead horse without a case to jump start the process. And as he was not in the mood to pay Moriarty another visit in prison, have another tête-à-tête with him where he lost his temper again, it was pointless to see if he could get any other details on that score. So he was left to go over other details he had and see what he could wring out of those for the umpteenth time.

But all he could think about was Molly, was how he had carelessly put her in danger by revealing to Moriarty so thoughtlessly that she was in his life. Not by name, of course, but by inference. He had ferretted out that there were people now that were close to him; it would not take a rocket scientist to deduce that he had a handful of friends and a girlfriend, and it would not even be that hard for someone to realize he was in love with his girlfriend. Killing her would be an immense blow. It would emotionally cripple him.

He never should have talked to Moriarty again. He should have resisted the urge to visit him in the prison again. His ego would be his downfall, he knew it. 

He heard the door open and turned, looking through the darkened lab at the entrance. He hadn’t bothered to turn the lights on when he got there; he wasn’t planning on doing work so there was no need. He saw Molly come in, worry on her face. “Mike said you were here but you didn’t turn on the light and you weren’t working on anything,” she said quietly as she came in, shutting the door behind her. “And Greg said you were distracted and I should come check on you.”

“I have much on my mind,” he said.

“Moriarty?” she asked, coming into the room more. He nodded. “You’ll keep us safe.”

“Will I?” he asked, looking up at her as she got closer. “The last case…we had armed officers at the door of Baker Street and they were overpowered and the killers got in. If we weren’t made aware, we could have been killed.”

“But we weren’t,” she said quietly. “We’re fine, healthy and whole, and they’re behind bars, just like the bastard.” She stood in front of him and caressed his face. “We might get hurt, banged up a bit. There may be close calls. There may be mistakes. I’m not going to say that won’t happen, Sherlock. But you’ll do all you can to keep us safe, and we’ll do all we can to help. And we aren’t helpless, you know. John’s ex-Army, Greg’s a copper, and I know a few things myself.”

“Do you?” he asked.

She nodded. “I take Krav Maga lessons at North London Krav Maga. I’m at Graduate level now. I could teach it, if I wanted.” She moved her hand up to tangle her fingers in his hair. “We can protect ourselves to some measure, Sherlock. We can help you. You don’t need to carry the burden of keeping us safe all on your own shoulders.”

He moved to wrap his arms around her and pull her close, and she stepped between his legs and held him gently, resting her cheek and chin against the top of his head. “Thank you,” he said, his face resting on her chest. “I needed to hear that.”

“I thought you might,” she said, holding him close. He allowed himself the comfort of her embrace for a few moments before he pulled away and looked up at her. “Have you eaten yet?”

He shook his head. “No. I walked around London after the meeting before I ended up here.”

She looked at him, shaking her head. “That’s almost an hour’s walk.”

“More than that, as I was distracted,” he said. “I took a circuitous path.”

She gave him a small smile. “Then I should feed you, I think. Would you prefer to eat at my flat or eat at a restaurant?”

“I think we should go to your flat,” he said, getting off the stool and standing in front of her, taking her hands in his. “While we’re waiting for whatever meal it is you’re going to make to finish, I can enjoy some more quality time with you, to make up for being so distracted.”

Her smile grew a little wider and she pulled her hands away from his, moving them to the buttons of his shirt. “ _Or_ you could start by making up for being distracted and we could call for takeaway later, after we’ve worked up an appetite,” she said, stepping closer to him. “I think that’s the more enjoyable option myself, don’t you agree?”

“I suppose it is,” he said with a grin, moving his hands to her waist and moving her even closer before angling his head to capture her lips with his. She kissed him back eagerly, sliding her hands up to wind her arms around his neck, and for the moment he could allow the niggling worry in his mind to go away. It would be back, he knew he couldn’t escape it forever, but for the moment he had quashed it down with Molly’s help, and for that he was grateful.


End file.
